Powerful People - Daniel
Our series this year is powerful people and we are going to examine how God works in and through ordinary people in a powerful way.
Tonight we are going to consider someone from the Old Testament, Daniel.
Daniel is a wonderful example of someone who was sustained and protected by God’s power.
Daniel also provides us with a wonderful example of what it is like to live in a society that wants nothing to do with either God or God’s Word. As we look at Daniel’s life, he can teach us how we can learn to live in this world and still separate ourselves from the grip of the world.
Daniel shows us how to make an impact on the people and communities around us for the cause of God’s kingdom.
Daniel was a person of prayer, in every circumstance, in every situation, Daniel sought God in prayer.
Proverbs 24:10 reminds us, If you fail under pressure, your strength is too small.
Daniel relied on God’s strength and not his own. That is what you and I are meant to do as we live in a dark and perverse world.
Even in the face of adversity, even when a decree was made that everyone should only pray to King Darius, Daniel continued to pray to His powerful God.
Daniel 6:3-5, Daniel soon proved himself more capable than all the other administrators and high officers. Because of Daniel’s great ability, the king made plans to place him over the entire empire. Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs, but they couldn’t find anything to criticize or condemn. He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy. So they concluded, “Our only chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with the rules of his religion.”
Daniel distinguished himself above the other administrators and high officers, the governors and satraps as another translation puts it.
Daniel was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy.
In your workplace, would your employer see that in you?
I have worked for some of the largest companies in the world.
Over the years I have managed a number of different teams and worked with and for many different people.
Let me be completely honest, there were some people I knew I could rely on, some people who I could always trust, and then there were some people who I am surprised even managed to find their way to the office.
I guess you might have had the pleasure of working with people like that.
There is one person I worked for in one company who had a very important job. Nobody knew why this person had that job. He was not responsible and nobody trusted Him.
The king trusted Daniel so much that he was thinking about putting Daniel in charge of the whole realm.
Would your boss think that about you?
The governors and satraps wanted to find some way to get Daniel out of the kings good books... they wanted to find something, dig the dirt up, but they could not find anything wrong, no charge, no-fault, no error, because Daniel was faithful; he did not abuse the power he had been given.
Daniel distinguished himself from everyone else, he was distinctive in his difference, it was almost like he glittered and shined compared to everyone else.
Daniel was willing to go the extra mile, yet he always put God first and was always faithful to God.
I suppose we could say Daniel was a man with a distinctive character, distinctive in how he worked, distinctive in how he lived and distinctive in how he worshipped and served his God.
Sadly, there are some people in this world who resent the achievements of other people.
Maybe that resentment is fuelled by jealousy, or greed or hate. Or maybe their resentment is rooted in their own lack of achievement or determination.
Daniel was a man of faith and he had worked hard at both following his God and climbing the ladder of advancement, the governors and officials thought it was the king who controlled Daniels destiny.
The truth is it was God and God alone who had the power to control Daniels destiny.
And of course, the same is true of you and me, we might like to think we are in control, but we are not, God commands our destiny, not us.
In this world, we encounter people who will not like the fact that we are “Christians”.
They will not like the fact that we do not live as they live.
They will not like the fact that we seek to follow God’s will, God’s purposes and God’s precepts.
We will encounter people who will hate that we say the Bible is true and that we seek to obey and live by the Word of God.
In John 15:18, Jesus said, “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.”
Sadly, there are also those who will hate us because we believe Jesus is real, that He died, that He rose from the grave, and that repenting of sin and trusting Jesus as Lord and Saviour is the only way to be saved.
In 2020, as I look around, I see a world that is anti-God, anti-Bible and anti-Christian.
Yet, I choose to be like Daniel, I choose to stand firm in my faith.
People in this world may hate me because I do not sound like them, I do not act like them, I do not live like them, I do not endorse lifestyles or behaviours that God has said are wrong.
Yet, I choose to be like Daniel, I choose to stand firm in my faith.
I am a Christian, I am a disciple of Jesus. I am not perfect, I make wrong decisions. I fail, I fall, I stumble and I struggle, I am a mess, but I am God’s mess, and in His power, He can turn my mess into His masterpiece.
Since the corporate ladder climbers could not find anything wrong with Daniel they looked to his relationship with His God. Daniel 6:5, "So they concluded, “Our only chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with the rules of his religion."
What an incredible statement!
They realise the only way to get at Daniel is to interfere with his worship of God.
They have watched Daniel, they know he is a man of faith, they know he is a man of prayer.
They set in motion their plan of deception to regulate prayer and cause Daniel to be in error and fault.
Regulated prayer… it is nothing new! The government officials of Daniel’s day were attempting to regulate prayer, today the schools and the government attempt to regulate prayer.
In schools up and down this country, prayer is banned. It is ok to teach primary school kids gay and transgender stuff, but teach them to pray, NO! Far too dangerous, far too offensive.
I hope I am not the only one who thinks there is something wrong when prayer is prohibited and ‘diversity’ is proclaimed.
Daniel 6:6-9, So the administrators and high officers went to the king and said, “Long live King Darius! We are all in agreement—we administrators, officials, high officers, advisers, and governors—that the king should make a law that will be strictly enforced. Give orders that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions. And now, Your Majesty, issue and sign this law so it cannot be changed, an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.” So King Darius signed the law.
For their plan to be work the officials needed to deceive the king. They approach the king behind a facade, “Long live King Darius!".
The officials did not care about their king, they were only interested in getting what they wanted from Him.
We are all in agreement, make a law that will be strictly enforced, any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, will be thrown into the den of lions.
Here is deception, we are ALL in agreement. All who were opposed to Daniel, all that had met together to find fault and error in Daniel.
No praying to anyone except Darius, I wonder how many of the officials would have actually followed the law themselves!
But it was not prayers to the king they were really seeking, what they were seeking was the removal of Daniel.
Prayer was not their motive - pronouncement of judgment against Daniel was their aim.
It seems like there was no hesitation from King Darius in signing the decree. Maybe he signed it with a pride-filled heart, “I am the King, I have the power, everyone should pray to only me”
He signs a law that that even He as king would be subject to and unable to change.
Again, I have to wonder, Did Darius pray to himself? What did he pray? Did he answer his own prayers?
The officials had managed to deceive their king, they knew Daniel would continue to keep his uncompromising commitment to his God. They thought Daniels days would be numbered.
If Daniel chose to be less committed to God for 30 days, their plan would fail, their plan was dependant on Daniel being a man of faith and commitment to his God.
Daniel 6:10 But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.
Daniel had three choices as he went home to pray:
First, he could choose not to pray. Humanly speaking, possibly the safest option. It would mean he would not spend time in fellowship with His God, but at least he would not be thrown into a den of lions.
Second, Daniel could have closed his window and prayed in secret. Yes, he would have remained in fellowship with God but he would also have hidden his faith from those around him.
His third option was to trust his powerful God and continue to live as a man of faith and continue to pray, regardless of what would happen if he violated the law of King Darius.
Daniel chose to go home and pray, not to King Darius but to His powerful God.
Daniel went to his upstairs room, his usual place for prayer.
Daniel communicated with God with both an open heart and "open windows."
Daniel purposely opened his windows.
Daniel chose to pray openly for "all" to see.
Daniel gives us a good example of what prayer is all about.
The Position of Prayer, The Practice of Prayer, The Posture of Prayer and The Pattern of Prayer.
The Position of Prayer - Humility
Daniel stilled himself before God. He didn’t rush off a quick prayer while he was half distracted doing something else. Daniel "knelt down", Daniel humbled himself before God.
The Practice of Prayer - Persistency
"three times" he prayed. This shows his willingness to be persistent in prayer. He prayed, then prayed, then prayed again.
The Posture of Prayer - Thankfulness
Daniel "gave thanks". Thanks for what we are not told. Would he have thanked God for the situation he was in or was he thanking God for the deliverance yet to come?
Whichever it was, Daniel remained faithful and praised God in the midst of the circumstance.
Do we faithfully thank God in the midst of our circumstances?
Have you sought Him in your circumstance?
The Pattern of Prayer - Customary
"just as he had always done"
Daniel was accustomed to praying about everything.
Daniel had developed a prayer life from an early age.
Parents, may I encourage you to build prayer into your child’s life! Not just the prayers of "lead, guide, direct, and bless” not just a prayer of "thank you for this food." I’m talking about, honest, open, fervent faithful prayer to our powerful God.
Jude 1:20-21, But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love.
Daniel was committed to praying to his powerful God.
Daniel was committed to seeking the mercy of God.
Daniel was an ordinary man with an extraordinarily powerful God.
May we also be powerful people of prayer as we rely on our powerful God.
As I draw to a close, let me remind you of the rest of this narrative.
Daniel 6:13, Then they told the king, “That man Daniel, one of the captives from Judah, is ignoring you and your law. He still prays to his God three times a day.”
Darius was troubled by this, but even he had to obey the decree he had signed.
Daniel is found guilty of praying to His God and is thrown into the den of hungry lions to be eaten.
It is interesting what the king said to Daniel in Daniel 6:16, “May your God, whom you serve so faithfully, rescue you.”
I think the thing we often miss at this point, is what the king did while Daniel was in the lion's den.
Daniel 6:17-20, A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den. The king sealed the stone with his own royal seal and the seals of his nobles, so that no one could rescue Daniel. Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night fasting. He refused his usual entertainment and couldn’t sleep at all that night.
Very early the next morning, the king got up and hurried out to the lions’ den. When he got there, he called out in anguish, “Daniel, servant of the living God! Was your God, whom you serve so faithfully, able to rescue you from the lions?”
It seems somewhere during his sleepless night of fasting, Darius realised that Daniel’s God was the true and living God.
Daniel 6:21-23 Daniel answered, “Long live the king! My God sent His angel to shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, for I have been found innocent in His sight. And I have not wronged you, Your Majesty.” The king was overjoyed and ordered that Daniel be lifted from the den. Not a scratch was found on him, for he had trusted in His God.
The final thought is this:
To be powerful people, we need to be people of prayer.
May God empower us to be like Daniel and trust Him in every circumstance.
Amen.
